RECOMMENDATION // TOYS, A BOOK NOOK, AND HOBKNOBBING WITH NEIGHBORS
Everland
Where childhood never grows old
by Lauren Earline Leonard
EXCERPT //
Melissa Donnelly worked for years in corporate sustainability, trying to effect change from within. All the while, she dreamed of starting her own business where her ideals and expertise could be put into practice in service of her community in Philadelphia. The reality of having a child brought the dream to fruition.
Donnelly found herself a new parent, “overwhelmed with all the challenges and how much I had to purchase and how expensive and wasteful it was.” Having a supportive partner and paid maternity leave made her realize the enormity of the challenges faced by less-resourced new parents. “I thought it was difficult, and I had support,” she says.
And so, after a series of real estate adventures and a global pandemic, Everland, a shop and community space for children and parents, was born in December 2023. Its name is a melding of Peter Pan’s home beyond the stars, the everlasting ever-afters of our childhood stories, and the name Everett, Donnelly’s son.
Upon entering Everland—located in the Queen Village neighborhood of Philadelphia—you are greeted by high ceilings and splashes of color that are both sophisticated and whimsical. For sale is a curated selection of homegoods, clothing, and personal care items for adults and sippy cups, bibs, bowls, burp cloths, sunglasses, teething rings (and more) for babies. Everland’s wares are locally sourced whenever possible, responsibly made and packaged, designed to last, and prime for reuse, Donnelly says. In her experience, when it comes to baby items, “best case scenario, you use it for a few months.”
Rooted in her professional and personal commitment to sustainability, Donnelly intends to create at Everland “a continuous cycle of goods.” She’s tackling the wastefulness and removing the guesswork of early childhood by offering a subscription service of age-specific bundles of clothing, books, and toys. When your child ages out of a bundle, they get a new (to them) one, and what was outgrown is recycled and “shared among other families.”
Community is another intentional offering at Everland. “I leaned on classes and made a network of other parents, and I wanted to create that kind of space for others,” says Donnelly. //
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